Dow Chemical Co plans to triple its revenue from sub-Saharan Africa in the next five years and is investing in offices, local staff and manufacturing plants on the continent to meet that target, its head of the region said. The company sees opportunities in agriculture, where it supplies crop protection chemicals, infrastructure, where it offers water treatment chemicals, as well as in mining and manufacturing. “We expect to triple our.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 17th October 2015

Agricultural extension service in Ethiopia is said to have started in 1953 with the establishment of the then Imperial Ethiopian College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts (IECAMA), currently known as Haramaya University.   IECAMA was established with the mandate of teaching, conducting researches and doing extension works. The extension mandate of the college included transferring local research outputs and technologies to farmers, and.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 17th October 2015

 HOMAG International Merchant is set to construct a mega fertilizer plant in Nigeria worth $1.2 billion in Kogi State.   The firm representative Adedayo Adeogi said that they will work hand in hand with the Kogi government to ensure that the project get completed on time. He said this while leading a delegation from Kogo state.   Adeogi added that the mega project will be executed on the basis of Build Operate Transfer so that.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 17th October 2015

A United Kingdom-based multinational consumer goods company has opened a R600 million ice cream factory, said to be the first of its kind in the continent.   Opened in Midrand, South Africa the facility is one of 40 Unilever ice cream factories across the globe.   Officials said the investment demonstrating the confidence Unilever had in South Africa.   "Unilever is optimistic about growth demand in the ice cream.... Read more »

Posted on : Thursday , 15th October 2015

 The Regional FAO field coordinator for MDG1C in Upper River Region has described value chain in agriculture as a prerequisite to boost the commercialization of agricultural products, and to attain sustainable livelihood development.   Dr Saikou E. Sanyang, an agriculturalist, noted that agricultural development depends on the simultaneous growth of farm-level production and productivity and the value chains to which it is.... Read more »

Posted on : Thursday , 15th October 2015

Salum Said, a Director of Kagoma Green Estates said he wants people in the vicinity to move out of poverty. “What I am doing, I want other people do in order to make sure we support our people and the government in its efforts to fight poverty,” he said last week. Kagera Green Estates has acquired about 30 acres of land in Kikuku village for planting of banana plants and the activity is underway where over 10,000 banana tree seeds.... Read more »

Posted on : Wednesday , 14th October 2015

 AGRICULTURAL investment is one of the most important and effective strategies for economic growth and poverty reduction particularly in rural areas where the majority of the poor live.   Gross domestic product (GDP) growth in agriculture has been shown to be at least twice as effective in reducing poverty as growth originating in other sectors.   The Tanzania agriculture sector that employs over 70 per cent of the workforce.... Read more »

Posted on : Wednesday , 14th October 2015

Caxito — More than 50,000 tons of maize were harvested by the Kissomeira Cooperative in the municipality of Dande, northern Bengo province, during the 2014/2015 agricultural season.   The information was released Thursday in Caxito, the capital of Bengo province, by the head of the local Department of the National Institute of Cereals, Laurindo José.   Speaking to Angop, in Caxito, the official said that as compared to.... Read more »

Posted on : Monday , 12th October 2015

Tunis — Tunisia was the world's top olive oil exporter in the 2014/2015 campaign, overtaking Spain.   Tunisian olive oil exports reached 299,300 tonnes this season, generating record revenues of 1,902 million Tunisian dinars (MTD), according to recent statistics (September 2015) of the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Energy..... Read more »

Posted on : Monday , 12th October 2015

The Borno State government on Friday said it had invested over N15 billion in agriculture as part of efforts to revolutionise the sector in the state.   The commissioner for agriculture in the state, Muhammad Dili, disclosed this in an interview in Maiduguri.   Mr. Dili said the state governor, Kashim Shettima, had laid a foundation for smooth take off of all relevant state agricultural programmes.   He said the state.... Read more »

Posted on : Monday , 12th October 2015

Construction of the Salima Sugar Factory will be completed at the end of this month, but there is no sugarcane to process as work in the cane growing area was halted some time ago due to what the Minister of Agriculture Dr Allan Chiyembekeza described as mismanagement of funds.   Breaking the news in Salima on Thursday after touring the factory site, the minister said that the contractor assured him that the work would be completed by.... Read more »

Posted on : Monday , 12th October 2015

Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) has begun research aimed at finding ways to improve fish species found in the country.   The institution is also carrying out research on what kind of feed ensures faster maturity of fish, Dr Wilson Rutaganira, the RAB aquaculture and fisheries programme coordinator, told Saturday Times.   "We are assessing our water and fish food, an activity known as 'characterisation of water', in order to.... Read more »

Posted on : Monday , 12th October 2015